Nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester say coronavirus furloughs have led to ‘dangerous delays in care’

Nurses from Saint Vincent Hospital say that furloughs and staff reductions amid the COVID-19 pandemic have led to “dangerous delays in care” at the Worcester facility.

In the time since the staff reduction plan was implemented, nurses have filed more than 50 reports documenting specific incidents when the lack of staff and resources reportedly jeopardized the health and safety of patients, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

The majority of those patients have COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and need a higher level of care, the statement read.

“Our administrators have no understanding of what these COVID patients need, and have no idea what it is like to be responsible for these patients, knowing they are not receiving the care and attention they need at the worst time in their lives,” said Dominique Muldoon RN, a nurse on a COVID floor at the hospital.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Saint Vincent Hospital criticized the MNA and said that actions the hospital has taken during the pandemic have been with the support of many of the hospital’s nurses.

“As we focus all efforts at Saint Vincent Hospital on protecting everyone who walks through our doors, we are very disappointed that the MNA, has instead, prioritized a campaign rife with inaccurate and misleading statements in order to raise their own profile," the statement read.

“Our culture at Saint Vincent Hospital is based on safety, integrity and compassionate care – and we have built every COVID-19 protocol consistent with those values,” the statement continued. "Any suggestions to the contrary are false, and we, along with our community and many SVH nurses, struggle to understand how – in the middle of a public health emergency – the MNA could be so focused on their own agenda with a blatant disregard for the health and well-being of our Worcester families. Every action we have taken, together with the support of many of our nurses, is helping to bring us all through this crisis.”

Saint Vincent Hospital is owned by Tenet Healthcare. Earlier this month, Tenet furloughed staff and started daily staff reductions of nurses, nurses aides and other caregivers, said the MNA.

“The hospital has eliminated previously agreed upon additional staffing necessary to support the increased need for stringent infection precaution measures and to provide for the increased complex care needs of COVID-19 patients,” the statement said.

Those reductions have led to an increased workload for nurses and other staff and have limited the time nurses can spend with patients who need monitoring, according to the MNA.

“As a result, nurses report patients who wait too long for needed treatments and medications, patients who are at increased risk for falls, patients left alone for too long, frightened and unattended with no family support,” the statement read.

Nurses in the emergency department have reported needing to board patients in the department, sometimes for hours, the MNA said.

“In thirty years of nursing, I have never witnessed the conditions I am seeing now at this hospital, nor have I been more ashamed to work for a corporation that would treat our patients this way,” said Marlena Pellegrino, RN, the co-chair of the nurses local bargaining unit. “Our nurses are appalled and disgusted by the lack of humanity shown by Tenet, yet I am proud to say we come to work every day, despite these obstacles, to do whatever we can for our patients.”

Beckett Augat, an emergency department nurse, said the cuts are “a travesty and totally unnecessary.”

“The other day, management sent four nurses home in the middle of our shift, and two hours later, we were bombed with patients, yet they wouldn’t call them back," Augat said. "So our patients suffered, waiting longer for care, and some waiting on a stretcher for a bed that should be staffed and open to take them. All the while [Saint Vincent Hospital CEO Carolyn Jackson] is up in her board room looking at her spread sheets.”

Tenet CEO Ron Rittenmeyer said earlier this month that the cuts were “done consciously, thoughtfully ... to ensure we were focused on maximizing our cash position,” according to the Dallas Morning News.

Tenet had $500 million in cash in hand as of March 31 and $1 billion in available credit, according to the newspaper, citing Tenet Chief Financial Officer Daniel Cancelmi.

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